Gaggan

Bangkok, Thailand

No.5

A colourful, emoji-led feast from Asia’s unstoppable chef

Best Restaurant in Asia: For the last four years in a row, Gaggan has been voted No.1 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, testament to the constant innovation and improvement at this ever-evolving hub of creativity. El Bulli-influenced chef Gaggan Anand serves up a menu of 25 or more courses of rapid-fire small bites, many of which are eaten with the hands.

Visit while you can: While Gaggan is currently the best that Asia has to offer, it won’t be for much longer, as Anand has pledged to close his flagship restaurant in 2020 after 10 years serving gastronomes from all over the globe. After the final service, he plans to open a small restaurant in Fukuoka, Japan, with fellow Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants chef Takeshi ‘Goh’ Fukuyama of La Maison de la Nature Goh.

Constant creativity: With the help of a test kitchen and some shiny new equipment, Anand’s menu has evolved from purely modern Indian to a much more global cuisine as the chef has travelled and taken influence from restaurants all over the world. The menu now includes Mexican-inspired taco bites, Japanese-Indian nigiri sushi and even aubergine Oreo biscuits. The classic Yoghurt Explosion remains on the menu alongside newer signatures such as Lick It Up, where diners are encouraged to lick a flavoursome curry straight from the plate.

Other ventures: Kolkata-born chef Anand has invested in multiple other restaurants in his adopted Bangkok over the last few years, including his casual beer and burger chain Meatlicious, the Sühring twins’ eponymous German restaurant, new tofu omakase restaurant Mihara Tofuten, and Gaa and Wet, both ventures from Gaggan alumni.